Reviews

Rubberbandits: Continental Fistfight (Soho Theatre)

The Irish musical comedy duo come to the Soho Theatre, playing until 22 February

WhatsOnStage Reviewer

WhatsOnStage Reviewer

| London | Off-West End |

6 February 2014

The Soho Downstairs space is just right for this irreverent Irish duo who put one in mind of Sean Patrick Flannery and Norman Readus in Boondock Saints. They are all affable disrespect and nothing escapes their biting wit.

A collection of 12 songs, connected by short bursts of banter, this 65 minute show flies by. With three "back catalogue fan favourites" and nine never performed numbers, it's a mix that doesn't rely on a previous encounter with the pair and is a mark of their ingenuity. While the songs may not be musically dynamic – techno percussion being the base track to them all – the lyrics are funny and insightful. It's more spoken word poetry with a beat than Bob Dylan – which it certainly doesn't claim to be.

"Shift Girls" which talks about just "snogging" a girl rather than doing anything more is not simply about "sexual health" but beneath that speaks to gender politics and attitudes towards sex, while "Spastic Hawk" deals with bullying and "Dad's Best Friend" with mid-life crises. The church, abortion, politics and even Boyzone and hipsters all take a hit as Blindboy Boatclub (Dave Chambers) and Mr Chrome (Bob McGlynn) sing about everything you shouldn't.

All but one song has a video to accompany it in which these plastic bag wearing musical comedians feature strongly. The videos are for the most part verbatim representations of the lyrics but given how funny these are it makes sense that the visuals should be too. Also, as this pair are of the YouTube sensation family, their videos are well produced and their rough and tumble quality owes a lot to well thought-out direction.

All in all, Blindboy Boatclub and Mr Chrome are just the sort of people you wish would come to every dinner party, just not the one you're organising. They say some frankly inflammatory things, swear a lot and Mr Chrome takes off his shirt, but it won't be a dinner party you'll soon forget.

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